Random Twilight Pairing OneshotsDrabbles
by StealthLiberal
Summary: This will feature whatever pairings/polyamorous couplings that grab my imagination. Mostly wolfpack, but one never knows.
1. Chapter 1

Legal Disclaimer: Twilight is the legal intellectual property of Stephanie Meyer. All legal rights to the Twilight Saga franchise belong to Little Brown Publishing Company and Stephanie Meyer. This a work of speculative fanfiction. No profit was made nor was intended to be made.

AN: The first in my random pairings fic collection is a Brady/OFC fic. It was written for a Brady writing challenge and was meant to address two things. The first, most OFC's are either white or Quiluette when it comes to Twilight fanfiction, I wanted to go in another ethnic direction with my OFC, here's hoping you like it. The second was... hey... not everyone is into vanilla sex, and some people don't know they're into kink until someone else rocks their world with it. Enjoy.

**A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush**

**Brady/OFC – M Rated**

The very first time Brady saw Inky Al Farid, he and everyone except Leah and Sam were on their way back from going to their first Mariners game in Seattle. They had just gotten into Forks, and surprise, surprise... they were hungry. They pulled into a Denny's parking lot that joined up to a ratty motel's parking area. As they were walking in, a pissed off looking Arabic woman with an asymmetrical black bob that had blue streaks dyed into it was walking out.

"Fuck you asshole! I'm an American! I was born here and so were my parents!"

She was striding angrily out the door of the diner and flipped off someone behind her. Then she almost ran straight into Brady's chest. He looked down at her as though to apologize. Then she looked him up and down and actually licked her lips.

"Well you are just sex on a plate, aren't you?"

Brady wasn't quite sure what to say to that, he'd been eyefucked before, and he was no blushing virgin. However, no woman had ever been so verbally honest that she was doing it until this one. He took a closer look at her, she was not your typical female. Her left ear was pierced with silver hoops all the way around it and she was wearing a silver necklace with some sort of Arabic writing on it. She was slender but not too tall. She was also older than him and looking at him with a sort of confidence that very few females his age had. Brady was finding that he liked it.

He didn't get much chance to do more than realize that he liked it before she was walking away towards the ratty motel. As she went she looked back at him over her shoulder. "See you later Sexy!"

Then she walked into one of the rooms on the ground floor and was gone. Brady sort of stood there for a second and then continued walking toward the door to Denny's. His friends laughing and saying things like "Go Brady!" as they walked with him. All through dinner, he found himself looking out the window to the door that she had gone into, hoping that she would come back outside, but she never did. As the pack got back into the two cars they had taken to Seattle, he shrugged and figured that he'd never see her again. He was wrong.

XXXXXX XXXXXX

The second time Brady saw Inky Al Farid, it was in the local automotive parts shop in Forks. She was looking at some timing belts in aisle four and he decided to walk over to her. When he got close, she looked up and grinned at him.

"Hey Sexy... didn't think I'd be seeing you again." Her tone of voice was extremely playful.

Brady huffed and smiled back at her. "I guess we're just lucky then. My name's Brady Fuller, you?"

The woman held out her hand, shaking Brady's. She had a decent grip, not that floppy, 'Oh I'm sorry, my hand just slobbered all over you!' handshake that some women tended to do, but not too firm, not like she was trying to prove anything to him. Brady liked that.

"I'm Inky Al Farid." Without even missing a beat she explained. "Before you ask, yes it's a nickname. I used to draw a lot when I was a kid and the ends of my fingers always had pen and ink stains on them, so my parents just started calling me Inky. It stuck."

Brady leaned into the wall next to her. "I like it. It's cute."

Once again she checked him out. "I'm thinking you know all about that which is cute."

For whatever reason, Brady was enjoying the attention. However Inky did it, she managed to keep the eyefucking on just the correct side of not sleazy so that he didn't feel like meat. Instead he felt like the center of someone's very sexual attention and both he and his wolf sort of mentally preened a bit. It was nice.

The two of them talked while making their purchases and he walked her out to her car. Or rather her Shitbox as she called it, and what a shitbox it was. The thing looked like it broke several laws of physics just staying in one piece in the parking lot. Brady seriously thought about leaning on it, just to see if it crumbled into dust. Suddenly her staying in the worst motel in Forks while she looked for a job didn't seem so odd. Not if she was driving this death trap.

It wasn't till she drove away that he realized that he had forgotten to ask for her number. Berating himself for his own stupidity, he figured that he had been given a second chance and that was that. Turning to his truck, Brady got in and once again figured he'd never see her again. Once again he was wrong.

XXXXXX XXXXXX

The third time Brady saw Inky Al Farid, she helped him win 300 bucks in a pool game and Collin swore that if Brady wasn't going to "Tap that, than I will!". He was hanging out with Embry, Quil, Jake and Collin. There was no bar on La Push and they all had decided that they wanted a few drinks and maybe play a game of pool or darts. It was pure coincidence that Jake picked the bar near the motel that Inky had been staying at. It had been two weeks and Brady hadn't seen her. He figured that she had blown out of town as quickly as she had blown into it. His track record for being right was hitting an all time low.

Inky walked into the bar with the air of someone who is used to having people get in her face... and knows how to respond. With an attitude. At first she didn't see him, so he just watched her move as she went to the bar and gave the bartender the money for one of the pool tables and then she turned around. When she saw him, she smiled wide and came over.

"Hey Brady, nice to see you."

Brady nodded at her. "I thought you had left town when I didn't see you again."

"Nah." she replied. "I found a job as a short order cook over at the diner near where the loggers catch the ferry upriver."

Brady knew the place and made a note to go there while she was working. He liked the idea of the loggers knowing that at least one of the locals knew her, that she wasn't totally open game. Then he wondered why he even gave a shit, it was only the third time he'd met her. He shook it off and introduced her to Jake, Embry, Quil and Collin. She was friendly and joked with all of them, but Brady noticed something, she only eyefucked him. When standing next to an alpha and another wolf that outranks you by a lot and a sexy woman chooses to eyefuck you exclusively, it does wonders for the ego.

Everything seemed to be going along just fine till Brady got up to get him and Inky a pool table.

"Hey chief!"

Brady _hated _being called that. It went right under his skin and stayed there, right next to all the comments from stupid people who would ask him what his 'totem animal' was. He turned and looked at the man who had said it and the guy looked like he shopped at Stereotypes R' Us. He couldn't have looked more like a redneck if he had gone out and tried. From the trucker hat, to the white wife beater worn underneath a flannel shirt and the grease stained jeans, this guy was a walking advertisement for about 5 bad stereotypes of white people and he seemed to be proud of it too.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I bet you're drunk off your ass." The guy replied.

Brady sighed, yep, the drunk Indian epitaph. What was ironic was that he couldn't even afford to get drunk in a bar. His metabolism worked too fast for him to get that much out of alcohol but the taste.

"I'll bet you're too drunk to beat me and my brother at a game of pool." the redneck continued.

Brady was about to walk around the man when Inky appeared next to him and grinned in a slightly manic way at the guy.

"You're on. How much we playing for?" she asked.

When the other guy said 300 bucks, Brady tried to back out. Not because he was afraid of losing or anything like that. But because if he didn't win... he didn't have enough money on him to cover the bet. But Inky agreed for them both and that's how he found himself in a pool game for $300.00 and his pack treating it like it was Clash of the fucking Titans.

Brady had never played with a woman before, but he had watched other women play in bars, and he had not been impressed. He thought they would lose. He was wrong.

The two of them were like two well oiled cogs in a machine and they blew Redneck and his brother right out of the water. When Inky held out her hand for the cash the brothers put it there with muttered curses and left. She turned to him with that open smile of hers.

"Easy money."

When the two of them got back to the guys, they were congratulated. Brady bought everyone a drink, and got a little hurt when Inky refused to drink hers.

"She's Muslim." Embry whispered to him. "They aren't allowed to drink alcohol."

The rest of the night was fun, he felt at ease, well except for the obvious flirting she did. She still called him 'Sexy' now and then and he found himself liking it. When last call sounded, he walked her out to her car.

"Sorry about the asshole and his comments." Brady was still embarrassed about the guy constantly calling him chief throughout the game.

Inky smiled at him. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing I'm not used to. Do you have any idea how many people have called me a sand nigger in my lifetime? Whatever they give you, you give right back, that's sort of my motto."

This time he remembered to get her number before she drove off and he was most definitely going to call her. He figured that they would probably start off as friends, hang out and then proceed to other things. He was wrong.

XXXXXX XXXXXX

The fourth time Brady saw Inky Al Farid, she completely rocked his world. She also introduced him to a few sexual practices that he'd read about, but never tried. He'd never tried because he was so damn strong, he was afraid he might accidentally hurt someone if he tried the kinkier versions of sex, and Brady could think of no fresher hell than actually hurting a woman during sex.

Inky had called him and after the prerequisite flirting over the phone, she told him that she wanted to see La Push. The locals had told her it was beautiful and now she had someone to show her. Brady agreed and when she showed up with a little backpack on her shoulder, he thought nothing of it. They were hiking through a part of the rez where there was a bit more space between the trees when Brady realized that his 'friends first' plan with Inky was going to need to be amended.

Inky tugged at his hand and when Brady turned to her, she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down to her and kissed the hell out of him. She never once mentioned how hot his skin was, nor the low, pleased growl he let out when she kissed him. Inky's special talent in life seemed to be rolling with whatever life threw at her.

Her hands fisted in his shirt and her teeth nipped at his lower lip and she wrapped one leg around him, rocking her hips up into the bulge in his pants. Brady's hands found her waist and pulled her harder against him, responding almost immediately to her.

Inky chuckled and then pushed him against the tree, pushed him hard enough that if he had been human his back would have met it much harder than it actually did. Then she crouched down and pulled down his zipper with her teeth. When she looked up at him, right before taking his cock into her mouth, Brady groaned, and when he felt her mouth envelope him, his head leaned back against the tree trunk and the sounds he made were halfway between a growl and a snarl. And good goddamn was she fantastic at that! He felt her cool hands cup his sac and he couldn't help himself, he came hard, a strangled "Fuck!" falling from his lips.

She slid her body up him, somewhere in the process having lost her shirt and bra, and bit at his collar bone, whispering in his ear. "I've been wanting to do that since I met you in the parking lot of that awful Denny's."

She had wanted to suck him off since she met him? Brady decided that G-d did in fact exist and the deity must want him extremely happy. When he cupped her breasts and ran his thumbs over the nipples, he felt cool metal on his skin. Looking down he could see that she was pierced, silver nipple rings glinting in the late afternoon sun. Brady had never hardened that fast after cumming in his life, but the sight of her piercings did the trick. Inky smirked at him and quickly toed off her sandals.

"Are you going to look at me, or are you going to get these pants off me?" Her voice once again owning that playful tone he was beginning to associate with her.

Brady had those jeans off in record time, and the sight of her nude before him made his brain cloud a bit. The wolf inside him enjoying the view as well and another pleased rumble floated out from him. He closed the space between them and cupped her mound, running a finger through her folds, sliding through the wetness he found there. She moaned low in her throat and leaned back against the tree she had shoved him against and tilted her hips up at him. He didn't really need much more of an invitation than that.

Soon he was the one doing the crouching and his nose took in the heavy scent of her arousal, his groin tightening even further. He ran his tongue over her clit and the high pitched gasp she made made him pleased, he traced over every inch of her folds, lapped at her and felt utter pride at the way her hips began a gentle rocking motion as she cried out above him. When he slid two fingers into her and applied pressure to the roof of her, her whole body stiffened and she cried out his name as her walls clenched on his fingers, almost like she didn't want them to leave her.

When Inky opened her eyes again, Brady was in front of her, his clothes gone and his large, heated hands running over her skin, soothing her down from the orgasm that had just ripped through her body. When she moved away from him, he made a displeased sound and she merely chuckled again. Then she opened her backpack and pulled out some rope and he could definitely see some other toys. He could swear that an invisible hand just squeezed his cock and it actually twitched he was so turned on.

"Do you know what a switch is Brady?" she asked.

Brady shook his head no.

"It's a BDSM term for someone who is both dominant and submissive, someone who can either top or bottom. So... you get a choice." She slinked back over to him and ran the coil of rope down his chest and over his manhood, making Brady leak a bead of precum. "I can either tie you up, or you can tie me up. Whatever you want."

Brady decided right then and there that he and Inky needed to spend as much time as possible naked and in bed and trying out every single toy she had on each other. He had always figured that if he ever tried any BDSM stuff, he would do the tying, but now, he could honestly say that both ways seemed equally enticing. However, the image of her with her arms tied over her head, with the sun glinting off her skin would just not leave his brain and he took the rope from her.

"This time, I wanna tie you up." He voice was deep and his eyes were hooded.

"Do you know how to tie so that if I pull at the ropes they won't tighten and cut off my circulation?" she asked.

Brady nodded yes and then backed her up to the tree, his wolf practically peering at her though his eyes. In a way, it was playfully hunting her, enjoying this as much as the human side of him did. Then he pulled her hands up and tied them together, after making sure they were tight enough, but not too tight, he then looped the rope over a branch above her head and fastened it so that it made her need to stand on her toes, but she could still support her weight. Inky had told him that there was a knife in her bag if he needed to cut the ropes to let her down and that 'red light' was her safe word. Brady knew what a safe word meant and he nodded and then he nipped at the muscle between her neck and shoulder the next time she attempted to talk.

"I didn't say you could speak yet, did I?"

"No sir." she breathed. Her nipples hardening even further and a surge of wetness rolling down the inside of her thigh.

He could smell that wetness, that arousal and it wrapped around his brain and choked every single last thought he had other than 'Take her!'. His teeth bit along her collar bone and chest, leaving little red marks that he laved with his tongue. He ran himself through her wetness, teasing her until she was tilting her hips at him repeatedly and making pleading noises. High pitched little things that made him impossibly harder.

"What do you say?" he demanded.

"Please..." she breathed.

Brady entered her in one sure stroke, wrapping her legs around her waist, careful to support her weight so that it wasn't being supported by her tied up arms. Then locking his eyes with hers, he began to thrust, setting a deep pace that had her groaning in pleasure at every inward stroke. Her legs tightening their hold on him. His hands gripped her hips harder and he could tell there would be bruises there and for a split second his eyes widened, he didn't want to really hurt her, but she just moaned louder and met his thrusts with her hips. Her head was tilted back and to the side, her neck totally bared and the sight made him even harder inside her. He wanted to bite that flesh, make a mark in it with his teeth, but he had enough presence of mind to realize that that was a bad idea, it was not the time for that. Maybe someday, but not today.

When she began to pant in a somewhat frantic manner, Brady thrust in and tilted his hips so that his pubic bone pressed into her clit on each inward stroke. Her body spasmed almost like she had been tasered. And when she came, it was loud and with a flurry of words that he thought were in Arabic, her walls rhythmically pressing and releasing his length.

He followed her over the edge with a wolfish sound that later he would hope to G-d she hadn't been paying attention to. With three more quick pops of his hips, he finally was still inside of her.

When they both had caught their breaths, he reached up and untied her arms and hands. Then they lay out on the grass, Brady rubbing at Inky's wrists, to make sure that her circulation was good. She smiled up at him and reached into her bag and pulled out a brand new pack of cigarettes, pulled one out and handed it to him.

"You smoke?" He asked.

"Only after really great sex." she replied.

Brady grinned, reached for the cancer stick and lit it, taking a puff and then handing it to her. She did the same.

"So... I hope you realize that you are aren't single anymore." His voice had a certain assurance, he was convinced, this was _his _woman.

"Hadn't planned to be after today." She sounded equally assured.

Brady chuckled, put the cigarette out on the rock next to him and then pulled Inky into his side and smiled as she pillowed her head on his chest. It had been a damn good day.

XXXXXX XXXXXX

A year later Brady was driving his truck to that rat hole motel Inky lived at. He had gotten permission from Jake, he could tell Inky, if he really wanted to. And Brady really wanted to, somehow he could tell that she was it for him, that he wasn't going to imprint, that this was where life was leading him. He was going to ask her to move in with him and if she said yes, he was going to tell her the truth, about him, the pack, the Cullens, all of it. He had a feeling she was going to say yes.

He was right.


	2. Chapter 2

Legal Disclaimer: 'Twilight' is the intellectual property of Stephanie Meyer and Little Brown Publishing Company. This is a work of specualtive fanfiction and no profit was made nor intended to be made.

AN: This and the following chapter came out of a challenge made to me. That I, as a die hard and dedicated Emily hater could not write her in a sympathetic light. The only way for me to do so was to make the Sam/Leah/Emily clusterfuck into a threesome, polyamorous relationship. So here you go, this and the next chapter are Leah/Sam/Emily. I don't expect to write anymore of this pairing, so enjoy it for what it is.

It Turns Out Three is Perfect or Polyamory, it's What's for Dinner

Emily knows that Sam likes blueberry muffins and cranberry muffins, but that he dislikes chocolate muffins and anything too sweet. But Leah likes Lucky Charms and pixie sticks because her sweet tooth is a vestige of childhood she refuses to give up. So Emily makes sure that these things are always available.

Emily knows that Leah likes comedies and raunchy movies and dislikes anything too violent. But Sam likes mysteries and crime dramas because puzzles, even the violent ones, draw his attention like a moth to a flame. So Emily's dvd collection is nothing if not eclectic.

Emily knows that they both love her and would die for her, even kill for her. She used to hate herself for being the weakest of the three, but now she sees their odd little family for what it is... each member having their own niche. So she holds herself up and when cruel words are spoken by those who do not understand... she growls in her own way and protects them in her own fashion. Emily knows she is loved.

XXXXXX XXXXXX

Leah knows that Sam likes to cliff dive with her, likes to defy gravity with her but that he dislikes that she's faster than he is, that he fears she will go too fast one day and disappear. But Emily likes the wind on her face and the blur of the trees when Leah lets her ride on her back. So Leah matches her speed for each of them and finds that it makes her content.

Leah knows that Emily loves summertime, that the heat makes her playful and that she loves to pick flowers and can never get enough of the sun while it's here. But Sam loves autumn, the crunch of the leaves beneath his paws and the way that the air feels crisp against his nose, because when he sees the leaves in their colorful finery he forgets that he's an alpha and is just Sam for a little while. So Leah just smiles when either one pulls her outside, wanting to to be free for a time. Even if she is tired, she smiles and does not complain.

Leah knows that they both love her and would sacrifice anything to keep her fulfilled. She used to be so afraid that they would leave her behind, that the imprint would eventually squeeze her out and leave her alone. Instead it just meant that while everything changed, it also got better. So when she smells a threat to Sam on patrol or hears someone say something unkind about Emily's scars, she bares her teeth and fights HARD for them. Leah knows she is loved.

XXXXXX XXXXXX

Sam knows that Emily stands in that kitchen day after day and cooks not only for him and Leah but for the rest of the pack as well, so he always gives her a foot massage at the end of the day. But he's one of two people who know that Leah's hands cramp up when she phases back after patrolling. She's so fast and her human hands don't handle that strain very well, so he massages her hands every night before they go to bed. Sam has learned little gestures can mean so much more than grand ones.

Sam knows that Leah has nightmares of Harry's death and so often likes to sleep in the middle, and he makes sure she is never alone when the horror of that moment invades her sleep. But Emily has different fears and they chase her in broad daylight, in front of the mirror and away from the bed. So Sam watches for the telltale tightening of her eyes and makes sure she never faces them alone. He has learned that both his girls have weaknesses they hide from everyone but him.

Sam knows that they both love him and have given up so much to stay here, in La Push , to be with him. He knows that people whisper and disparage them behind their backs. One man, two women... it is unusual and it confuses many. So he makes sure that it is worth it, that they NEVER regret it. Because now... he's not sure that any of them can be without each other. Sam knows he is loved.

XXXXXX XXXXXX

The pack never thought that the crazy Alpha Trio, as they took to calling Sam, Leah and Emily, would actually last, would actually thrive. The elders were certainly suspect of Sam's choice to try and have both and of Leah and Emily's choice to accept that. However, both groups have had to acknowledge that perhaps, for them, three was perfect after all. That two would never have been enough.


	3. Chapter 3

Legal Disclaimer: 'Twilight' and all of it's sequels and prequels are the property of Stephanie Meyer and Little Brown Publishing. This is a work of amateur speculative writing and no profit was made nor intended to be made. I make no claim to the rights concerning 'Twilight' nor to any pieces of intellectual property belonging to Ms. Meyer.

AN: This the second of 2 Leah/Sam/Emily one shots. This one is pretty much a humor story.

Warning: This is a threesome pairing, which means that for some people the lack of monogamy will be offensive. I consider this a monogamous relationship as the three of them do not go outside their happy, odd little family. So consider yourself warned and please do not continue reading if this sort of pairing is not to your taste.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Three people in a bed that is NOT a California king sized bed can become complicated. Especially when two of them are werewolves who run at a blistering 108 degrees and the other is a human who most assuredly does not. Then add in the fact that one of the wolves snores like he's swallowed a donkey about half the time and the other wolf seems to be determined to win some sort of race in her sleep. Then, for yet more fun, the human has this odd tendency of sitting up and yelling out whatever it was she was saying in her dreams and you've got a recipe for a certain lack of sleep and crankiness.

As Leah sat staring into a cup of coffee, she realized that she had been sitting there for almost a half an hour and her coffee was cold. She was so goddamned tired that she couldn't work up the motivation to bring the cup to her mouth. Leah pushed the cup away, certain that it was mocking her, reveling in her tired, caffeine depleted despair.

Leah wasn't the only one, Sam had bags under his eyes and hadn't even bothered to lecture Jared when he come over late to relieve Quil for patrol. Sam had merely nodded and put his head back in his arms on the kitchen table. The alpha was quite certain that if he didn't get some sleep soon, he wouldn't have to worry about getting killed by a vampire on patrol, a non-vampire _rabbit_ would be able to get the job done on it's own.

Emily stumbled into the kitchen. She knew they wanted a nice warm breakfast, she knew this but decided 'Fuck it!' and grabbed some cereal from the cabinet and blearily tossed it onto the table.

"Here." she said tiredly. "If I try to fucking cook right now I swear I will end up lighting myself on fire!"

Leah yawned and took a mouthful of cereal. "Fire bad, cereal good."

Sam picked at his cereal and then finely, had enough. "We're buying a new bed. I don't care if we have to eat Ramen noodles for six months to recover the cost. I need to get some sleep and so do you two. We'll go to Port Angeles this afternoon and go bed shopping."

Leah gave Sam a tried thumbs up and Emily nodded before mechanically eating her mass produced breakfast. Then she got up and put more coffee on. Someone was going to be driving and that meant that a LOT of caffeine was going to be needed.

When Leah got back from patrol the trio got into Sam's truck and drove to Port Angeles. After stopping at several stores and shocking virtually _all _the salespeople when all three would lay down and try to get comfortable, they _finally_ found a bed. Instead of delivery they had the stock boys strap it into the truck and they drove it home.

When they got home, Sam called the pack over and after moving the bedroom furniture around a bit, they fit everything in. Jacob got a their old bed and all was right with the world.

As the pack left, the ever horny Paul laughed over his shoulder. "Ten to one they break in the bed as soon as we leave and don't get up till tomorrow. Enjoy the 'new bed nookie' Sam!"

Paul was right, the three collapsed into the bed and broke it in all night. They fell asleep within ten minutes, all three of them. Emily didn't almost get roasted alive by Sam and Leah and when she would talk in her sleep, the bed was big enough for them to roll over and go back to sleep. When Leah started thrashing, there was enough room that she didn't kick or punch anyone. And Sam slept deeply enough that for the first time in weeks, he didn't snore.

The next morning Leah drank her coffee and told Emily and Sam a joke she had heard last week and had been wanting to tell them. Emily was making omelets and didn't use the f word once. Sam had no bags under his eyes and was feeling like himself again. Which was unfortunate for Jared... seeing as how he was late for patrol... AGAIN.


	4. Chapter 4

Legal Disclaimer: 'Twilight' it's subsequent sequels and movies belong to Stephanie Meyer, Little Brown Publishing Company and New Line production company. This is a work of speculative fanfiction and no profit was made nor intended to be made. Nor is this an attempt to claim rights to any of Stephanie Meyer's intellectual property.

**AN: **This is a long overdue present for a friend of mine, Midnightstarr. I hope you enjoy this piece of polyamorous offering. It turned out differently than I had originally planned, so I hope you still like it. Also, I have a Paul/Leah one-shot to follow this and the next chapter to Shrapnel. They just need final edits and they'll be posted. My distractions have cleared up and I'm going to try like hell from here on out to maintain a schedule of updating twice a month on the FMF storyline and adding to this collection of one-shots as often as I can.

**WARNING: **Yes, there is sex in this, graphic sex. Grownups have sex, they enjoy sex. I do not shy away from this reality, either in one shots, nor will I in the FMF series. If graphic sex disturbs you in any way, may I politely suggest not reading this.

**The Ties that Bind**

**(Sam/Leah/Embry)**

Leah had been ill. Which was unusual because shapeshifters were never ill. Unless, in the course of taking down a vampire who thought that coming on the pack's rez to try and make meals of the people there, you got bit. When a shifter got bitten, they got sick. Their muscles cramped up, they got feverish and all around it was a horrible experience. Leah was curled up in her apartment in a ball. She was either sweating from the heat or shivering with the cold, vomiting ferociously, having a pounding headache and all around wishing that in the process of her body burning through the vampire venom... she'd just haul off and die. Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, she hadn't gotten a big enough dose to kill her, just enough to make her wish she had.

It would take a week for the venom to be burned through, until then she was at the mercy of whoever came to care for her. Sue had at first wanted to spend the entire time with her daughter, but after nearly getting tossed across the room when Leah had a muscle spasm and Sue had been leaning over her... she had decided to let packmates take the night shifts. Her mother had just left, or at least Leah thought she had just left, time seemed to slow down and speed up of it's own accord. She sniffed the air, she thought she detected the scent of Embry... and maybe Sam. She felt a cool, wet cloth smooth over her forehead... a gentle voice croon wordlessly to her. She thought it was Embry.

A deep voice... was it Sam? "Try to sleep Lee-Lee, we've got you."

Leah closed her eyes and pretty much didn't open them again for nearly three days.

XXX XXX XXX XXX

When she did open them, she wasn't in her bed, she wasn't even in her room. She blinked and looked around a bit. She was in Sam's guestroom... she thought.

"You're awake."

Leah startled, she was shocked that she hadn't heard Embry before now.

"I am... why am I here? Why aren't I at home? What happened?" she asked.

Embry sat at the edge of her bed and smoothed the hair from her face. "You ran a high fever, even for us. You kept thrashing so much on that twin bed of yours that Sam and I decided to take you back here. He thought you would be more comfortable here... I agreed."

Leah spent the rest of that day in an out of sleep. Sometimes Embry would be there when Leah awoke, sometimes Sam was. When she was thirsty one of them would hold a glass of water to her lips while the other helped support her in a sitting position. She was a bit more coherent, able to tell what was happening to her and seemed more weak and sleepy than anything else. Both men heaved sighs of relief. Carlisle had told them she would pull through, but watching her thrash about, cry out in fever dreams... they had been reduced to helpless watching, with Sue and Seth pacing the floor behind them. To see her like this was like feeling the weight of a thousand pound boulder lifting from their shoulders.

It would not be long till they felt that weight come crashing back down again. Leah hadn't taken enough venom from that bite to kill her, but she had taken enough for there to be permanent side effects. The pack was about to learn a lesson, warriors are often sacrifices, they fight, they die and they kill so that others do not have to. Sometimes though... they scar, and scar horribly.

But for now, for this day and this night Sam and Embry could revel in the fact that Leah would survive, would heal. For now, they could be happy, they could be relieved.

It didn't last.

When Leah woke up the next day, she had clearer eyes, more focus and could, without a shadow of a doubt tell where she was and with whom. And she did _not _look happy.

"Sam... don't you think your precious Emily might get a little pissed off that you keep dancing attendance on me and ignoring her?"

Both Sam and Embry looked wide eyed and shocked.

"Leah? What are you talking about?" Embry asked.

"Leah snarled and shoved off the blankets that covered her, getting visibly angry at her nakedness. "Get me some clothes and get me home! Why the hell am I here anyway? Why aren't I home... why the hell did my mother kick me out to stay here? Just get out of my way so that I can go home!"

Sam frowned. "Lee-Lee, what's the last thing you remember?"

She yanked the tee shirt Embry had taken off and handed to her on. "Did you hit your head Sam? Why the hell do you want to know?"

Sam's face and body language grew more worried as the seconds went by. Embry nearly mirrored him, both men were staring at Leah, but not staring her down. Had she been paying more attention, she would have realized that they were going out of their way to appear non-threatening and Sam especially seemed to be trying to stand in the least dominant position he could stand in and still be... him.

"Just tell us Leah." he said.

"Fine. Let's see, where do I begin? You broke up with me four months ago to shack up with my cousin... way to make a girl feel special Sam. Everyone says I should be happy for you. I turned into a goddamned giant dog a week ago, found out about imprinting, and oh... I killed my father. No one _says_ it... but everyone _thinks_ it. I'm a freak... and all of you want me gone. My mother cries in her bedroom every night, my brother hasn't been this falsely cheerful since he broke his arm right before his Little League post season and didn't want anyone to worry about him. And I can't sleep... not even a little. Anything ELSE you want to know Uley?"

Leah was panting at the end of her rant... and looked near the verge of tears. She rubbed at her eyes like she was enraged that they had betrayed her. She also looked like she was about to claw through Sam's wall to get out, like she was cornered.

"Let me out... I want to go home." Her voice was small, she was defeated and just wanted out and away.

Sam looked shell shocked, gut punched. Embry was wincing and looking down at his feet. Not the reaction Leah was expecting from them. She was expecting Embry to make some comment about her being a drama queen or Sam to start stuttering inane apologies that didn't really mean anything since he wasn't especially sorry and would do it all again if it meant he could have Emily.

Sam finally moved towards her. "Lee-Lee..."

Leah interrupted him. "STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

"I'm sorry Leah. I won't do it again" he said.

Then he began anew. "That was three years ago. Things have... things have changed."

Leah eyes went wide as saucers. "Wha...what are you talking about?"

Sam took a deep breath, wondering how to navigate this situation. "It's been three years since you phased for the first time. There are two packs now. I'm alpha of one and Jacob is alpha of the other. Seth is his beta... and you're mine."

"You're lying!" She sounded panicked.

"No he's not." Embry said. "I'm in Jacob's pack, as is Quil and Brady. You, Paul, Collin and Jared are in Sam's."

Leah had her back plastered to the wall and was starting to breathe too fast. "You can't be telling me the truth. I would NEVER be Sam's beta... all I want is out of his head. All I want is to get away, to get off this rez and away from this place and everyone in it! Away from you and my cousin and all the memories of my dad." She paused as she forced her breathing back under control. "People don't just forget three years of their life because they got sick."

Then she got a sly look. "I'm going home, before Emily comes up here and makes me eat a muffin."

"Emily doesn't live here Leah, she hasn't for a year and a half."

Sam's voice sounded tired, he needed to fix this. Leah was back at the worst portion of her life, back when everything hurt and everything he did just made it worse. Back when being wolves was new to everyone and they all needed someone to blame for things when they went wrong. Leah had been angry and sometimes cruel back then, she had been an easy target for the pack's frustrations. An easy place to shove their anger, like an elastic container that could always hold more. He hated thinking back on those days, all of them did. All of them would like to go back and do it over again... even Leah. Or at least she had before she lost her memories. Sam didn't know what to do and he was not ashamed to admit that to himself.

Leah sat down on the floor abruptly, she sniffed the air. She could not smell Emily... there was no way her cousin still lived here. If she had, than Leah would have smelled traces of her, even if she wasn't in the house at the time. Embry reached out and placed his hand on her foot, just a small touch to let her know he was there.

"We're telling the truth Leah. It's been three years."

Leah, still wide eyed, nodded. "Tell me."

"Emily and I didn't work out. And before you say it, yes.. I know, imprinting is soul mates and forever and the legends tell us all we need to know about it. The things is, legends are just that, legends, They don't tell you everything, they just tell you the archetypal things, the broad strokes. Imprinting didn't work out for me and Emily."

"Why?" she asked.

"There were a lot of reasons, but in the end it boiled down to two things. Emily decided that she had had enough. She told me that one day she looked into the mirror and didn't like what she saw. She thinks that half of why she stayed was fear. She was afraid that no one would ever want her nor except her with her scars. That I was the best she could do with what her face looked like. So she stayed, it was easier than taking the risk that she would be alone for the rest of her life. It's not like I could ever leave her if she didn't want me too. So one day she had a moment I guess and was tired of living her life afraid."

"That was it? She had an Aha, Oprah moment one day?" Leah sounded a bit suspicious.

"No, that wasn't it." Sam sighed and ran his hand through his short hair.

"This isn't the first time you've been bitten. When Jake split the pack, you tried to leave, to go with him, but for some reason... you couldn't. We think it was because you used to be my mate, that our former relationship created some sort of tie to me in the packmind that you couldn't break... and that I selfishly refused to. This was back when Paul was still my beta... you got desperate, and none of us saw it because we so busy with the Volturri and everything else. You would throw yourself at them, the vampires, use yourself as bait... attack with no thought, and even less survival instinct. Like you wanted to die and were just too afraid to do it yourself. Though, I don't think you were actively suicidal, not consciously anyway. Subconsciously though..."

At this point Embry took over. "You were good at hiding your thoughts in the packmind. The only ones better at it are Jake and Sam. So your pack couldn't tell how bad things had gotten for you internally... and all of us don't think you really understood it either. We think it all sort of snowballed onto you, especially on the first anniversary of your father's death. You caught a vampire on patrol with Jared. He swears up and down you had a golden opportunity to take the asshole out... but instead you paused and just... let him bite you. You just let him nearly kill you. You almost died. Came closer than you ever did any time before or since."

Leah was just blinking and staring. She could smell them. She could smell that they weren't lying. "I was... suicidal?"

She sounded like she was having a hard time believing it herself as well.

Sam took the narrative back up. "You stayed in this bed and nearly died. When you recovered... Emily left. She said that she didn't like who imprinting was turning her into. She had all this power, I could easily have been her lapdog, and she knew it. But the power she had over me was helping destroy you. She told me that she was in love with the idea of imprinting, of having a soulmate who could never leave... so in love with it that she was blind to the darker sides of the equation. So she left before it could get any worse. She lives in Chicago now... as a food stylist for 'Gourmet Magazine'."

The only thing Leah could think of to say in the face of all this shocking information was "That's a job?"

Embry laughed deeply and kissed her forehead in a comforting gesture. "Yes... that's a job."

Leah looked at her hands and then back up at Sam. " Did... did we...?"

"No. Too much water had gone under that bridge by the time I was free again. We had changed. And besides, how do you come back from all that our relationship had gone through? We never got back together... but you did become my beta after you bumped Paul. Something about what you went through made you progress in rank and you became more dominant than he was. Not that he didn't bitch about it for a month. So now you're my beta... and my closest friend. I helped you pick out your apartment and the packs helped you move. You've come a long way from where you were Leah. A long way from what you remember right now."

Sam finished and watched her, he had hoped to never see Leah look at him again like she was looking at him now. Like he was the architect of half her pain and sorrow. He knew she still carried the undeserved guilt from her father's death, nothing had really changed that. But this fear of him, of how he could hurt her, had mercifully been put to rest... and now it was back.

"Anything else that I need to know?" she asked.

Embry rubbed the back of his neck and winced. "Well... now that you mention it, there is one other thing."

"What?" she asked.

"Your mother and Charlie Swan got married about eight months ago." he replied.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

XXX XXX XXX XXX

The next week was a study in frustration. At every turn Leah was being told that everything that she _knew_ for a fact about her life was wrong. She was a beta, she got to tell Paul what to do, not the greatest thing about being a beta, but a definite mark in the plus category. She lived on her own in the only apartment building on the rez and... she gardened. Seriously... she gardened. When Sam and Embry had taken her back to her home, the balconyhad looked like the enchanted freakin' fforestout there. There were potted plants everywhere. Too bad she had no memory of learning how to keep plants alive.

Seth and her mother had wanted her to move home, where they could take care of her. Leah had refused, she knew that whatever it was that she was looking for it wasn't to be found in her old bedroom, in a home that to her was filled with the brand new memories of her father clutching his chest and dying in front of her as she whimpered and shifted on her paws, terrified and not knowing what to do. Sue and Seth had had three years to recover and move on with their lives, Leah was back at the beginning. Plus... there was Charlie. She knew he had been a damn good friend to her father, had been a part of her life all her life and that Sue and he had never gone behind her father's back. But... to her , Harry was only dead 2 weeks. To her it was too soon to welcome another man into her family. Though she had seen the wedding pictures. She and Seth had given their mother away, she had looked happy... that hadn't been a fake smile on her face. But now...? Now she was back at square one, drowning in grief.

Sam wouldn't let her run patrols till she was better, even Jake had come around wanting to make sure she wasn't taking on too much responsibility right now. Her response had been quick and angry. She had told him that her brother was his beta, not her and he could keep his hairy snout out of her business. When Leah was scared, she lashed out. Three years ago, none of the rest of them save for Sam and Seth had realized that. Now they all did and they all refused to hit back, so her acting out had nowhere to go... and it soon faded into a terse silence as she began to try and sift through the artifacts of a life she could no longer remember.

For the packs and her family, it was hard watching Leah go through the same territory that she had gone through once already. To deal with her father's death all over again, to deal with the fact that she could not have children all over again, to deal with feeling like she was snubbed by fate itself and deemed unworthy all over again. But there was no help for it, it had to be done. She kept her place as Sam's beta, though there had been suspicions that Paul would bump her in the rank structure, it never happened. So in addition to everything else, Sam found himself covering the same territory he had when she first became his beta. It was like getting the do over that everyone wishes for once or twice in their lives, but instead of getting thrust back to before the bad stuff, they got to watch her be thrust back into the thick of the bad stuff.

A month after the incident, Leah decided that she could no longer keep her apartment, it represented a life she couldn't hold onto. The corpses of her dead plants littered the place and the sight of them made her too depressed to even throw them out. She was reading a stack of well thumbed over books, that were brand new to her and had notes in the margins from her handwriting... but it was like reading hieroglyphics as far as she was concerned. So she opted to not renew her lease, _finally_ threw out the plants and donated the books to the tribal school's high school library. The rest, well, it mostly went into boxes. She stripped her belongings to the bare minimum necessary for her to take care of herself and either stored or donated the rest.

The first thing she did after leaving her apartment for the final time was to go to her father's grave and take a picture of the two of them before Seth was born. He was holding her up by her waist and her arms were stretched towards the sky, her head thrown back in an expression of childlike glee and joy. Harry looked up at her with pure paternal pride and affection on his face. Leah kneeled beside her father's grave and buried it in the dirt.

"I'm sorry Daddy. I didn't mean it."

Then she cried. She knelt there and cried for quite a while. In the back of her head she knew that she must have cried like this many times at his graveside, must have unburdened herself of her guilt and her grief so many times over the years. But this time was the first for her again. It was freeing, it was like offering up her emotions to some sort of little god and asking it to just take and do with them what it would. Because... because she couldn't live under the weight of it anymore, she couldn't breathe under it anymore. So she gave it away like it was a gift at a potlatch.

Two men stood at the edge of New La Push Cemetery. They watched her with an intentful gaze, it was like intruding on a woman giving birth to herself. Sam and Embry had been spending a lot of time with each other and with Leah. Trying to help her through something they couldn't even imagine going through themselves. The death of a parent, the loss of the place that parent had, they could both understand, the feelings of extreme guilt.. they had both been there, for different reasons, but extreme gut checking guilt is extreme gut checking guilt. However the loss of three years of one's life? That they had no frame of reference for. So they just stood by her and helped her when she asked for it, which wasn't often, or when she was floundering, which happened more than she wanted to admit.

Right now though was her time and so they watched, and they waited.

Leah finished giving her grief away to whatever was out there to take it and then got up, brushed her knees of grave dirt and walked toward her alpha and her friend. She had smelled them once they arrived, but had been too concerned with what she had been doing to acknowledge them. She walked between them and smiled.

"Hey, thanks for giving me my time with him. I needed it."

Embry smiled back and tucked a piece of her hair back behind her ear. It was getting bit long, she'd have to cut it soon. "No worries. We just wanted to make sure that no one bothered you."

Then he drew her closer and tucked her head under his chin. If he had been in Sam's pack, she would have been his beta and he would never have dared to touch her in this way, but he was the third ranked in Jake's pack... so it was easier for him to treat her as woman in need of some comfort. Still though, this guilt and this grief unsettled him, it had three years ago and it did now. So he decided to take the chance to say this time what he hadn't been confident enough to say then.

"It wasn't your fault Leah. It happened and it was awful. But Harry spent a lifetime not taking proper care of that heart condition and if it hadn't been you phasing it would have been Seth phasing right after you and if it hadn't been that, it would have been something else. It was _never _your fault and no one really thought that it was. I'm sorry I didn't tell you that three years ago, I'm sorry that _we _didn't tell you that, that none of us put it together about how guilty you felt." he said.

Sam watched Embry with Leah, watched Leah absorb his words and relax a bit. He had the feeling that unconsciously Leah's experiences were still in there somewhere, but beyond her ability to recall. Sometimes though, when she relaxed far quicker than she would have years ago, he thought that maybe those unconscious experiences were subtly influencing her behavior. Making it a bit easier to get through to her, to help her. Or maybe they had all just grown the hell up since the last time. Maybe the do over was more for them than for her. He didn't know but he was certain there had to some sort of deeper lesson here to be had. He refused to believe that it was all random chance. His life had become too chaotic in the last several years for him not to cling to the idea that there was a guiding hand to all the chaos, that it had a plan, even if it was a plan he would never be able to fathom.

Finally he spoke. "Come live with me. In the guest room. You know you don't want to move back in with Sue and with Seth moving out in a week it'd be you and her and Charlie. You're my beta... move in with me." His voice was a little bit smaller and less confident than he would have liked. He hadn't even realized that he was going to make her the offer till he said it. But now that he had... it seemed like it was the only natural thing to do.

Leah arched an eyebrow, she had been spending an enormous amount of her time with Sam and Embry. To the point where Jake and Seth had jokingly accused her and Sam of poaching Embry from their pack. They talked all the time, they were always there. And if the three of them weren't together, some configuration of the other two were. Maybe... maybe she should move in with Sam? Maybe it was the only way to break with everything that had come before and start over with something fresh?

She didn't give him an answer right away, instead she made them go cliff diving with her. Nothing like cutting into the water from heights that would have seriously injured a normal person to clear your head of unpleasant thoughts for an hour or two. At the end though as she walked along the shoreline dripping with salt water she agreed to move into the Uley house. As long as he swore to G-d that he wouldn't tease her about her love of anchovy pizza. And for the first time in a month... the three of them laughed deep, bowled over belly laughs. Maybe the do over was in fact for all of them.

XXX XXX XXX XXX

Six months later Embry woke up on the couch in Sam's living room... the smell of day old anchovy pizza lingering in his entirely too sensitive nose. Sam may have given Leah his word that he wouldn''t tease her about her food choices... but Embry had given her no such promises.

"Jesus Christ woman! Can't you throw that nasty shit out like a normal person?" he yelled.

Leah was in the kitchen clearing up the mess from the night before. Both packs had converged on Sam's house for their monthly "Together Time" as Rosalie jokingly called it. And Jake may have swatted her behind when she said it. But no one was talking about that. Anyway, Embry had crashed on the couch as everyone had made their way home in the wee hours of the morning. For one night a month the Cullens patrolled right outside of the borders to La Push. For one night a month the packs gathered and... well... partied like their lives depended on it.

"What the hell do you think I'm doing right now? Making it into an air freshener?" she tossed back.

Sam was under his kitchen sink with a tool box beside him. "When I get my hands on Brady I swear to G-d I will wring his little neck! At what point do you get so drunk that you decide that MY garbage disposal is the PERFECT place to jam your left SNEAKER?"

"How many beers did the kid have?" Leah asked.

"He drank a liquor store." Embry replied.

"No seriously, how many?" Leah asked again.

"I'm serious, the kid drank a liquor store. He and Rosalie had a bet and he broke into a liquor store and drank it. Jake and Seth threatened to light her hair on fire if she ever encourages him like that again. And according to the text I just got from Quil, Brady is swearing up and down he will never drink again. Seth's holding his head over a toilet. Lucky him." Embry sounded utterly amused.

Sam sighed as he performed the sneaker extraction from his garbage disposal. "Is there something in an invisible contract that I don't know about that states that it's mandatory for all wolves to go on the mother of all drinking binges just to prove they can? Every single last one of you did it at least twice!"

Embry snorted. "Yeah, it's right next to the clause about trying to see how much damage you can take before you feel actual pain. Didn't you get the manual Sam?"

Leah stopped mid fish clean up and tilted her head sideways in a very canine way. "Did you go on a binge Sam?"

Sam pulled the last piece of shoe out and came out from under the sink. "I didn't go on a binge, I went on a bender instead. It was right after Old Quil told me about imprinting. I was going to go and ask for my mother's ring back so that I could give it to Emily. I figured since I had ripped half her face off, and was going to break your heart with a woman you couldn't get away from... well... I was already turning right into my father anyway, why not go for the trifecta and become a drunk too. Then I found out that I could barely get drunk without going broke in the process. Not that I didn't try though."

He picked up two full trash bags to take outside to the cans on the side of the house. "The jury's still out on whether or not that's a good thing."

Embry watched him leave and started helping Leah clean up. "You two need so much therapy that you could put a shrink's kids through college."

Leah flipped him off. "Oh.. and you're so normal?"

"Fair enough. I'm sure my Daddy issues could pay for the kids' dorm fees." he laughed.

In not too long a time the kitchen... and the bathroom that Brady had started his puke fest in had been cleaned. After they ate a quick but huge breakfast Embry leaned back in his chair.

"So what are we doing?" he asked.

"You two are doing whatever you want, I, on the other hand, get to go patrol with Collin. He's taking the southern end of the rez and I'm taking the northern." Sam said.

"Have fun." Leah called out sarcastically. "Collin is very much riveted with the head cheerleader at his school." She made the outlines of an hourglass shape with her hands. "Apparently she has a quote 'rockin bod and an ass to die for.'"

"It's all he can think about." she finished.

"Wonderful, another dip into Collin's spank bank. My life just wasn't complete yet."

Then he waved loosely and headed out, phasing as he hit the treeline. Once he was gone Embry and Leah flipped through the channels. There was nothing on, except a _riveting_ documentary about the mating behavior of lions.

"Leah, so help me, if you make me watch one more second of lion fucking... I'm challenging you for your rank. And I don't care that we aren't in the same pack!"

Leah smirked and turned off the TV set. "You just don't appreciate my sparkling sense of humor. Oh wait... Edward sparkles... forget I said that."

Embry was about to respond with a pithy retort when they heard a howl. It was Sam... it was the howl each wolf was trained to give out when they were going down and needed help. When their patrolmate was too far away to get to them in time.

Sam's poor door ended up in the yard with the force that both wolves went though it. It wasn't the first time Sam's door ended up in the front lawn and it wouldn't be the last.

Leah was fast, too fast sometimes and Embry could barely keep up with her. So instead he drafted behind her and slammed his paws in the dirt. He couldn't hear Sam or Collin in his thoughts, but he could hear Leah's whimper in his ears and knew it was bad. The howl was taken up by the rest of Sam's pack and soon he even felt his own packmates phase in. Sam was going down and whatever it was that was doing the damage was about to have two packs on it's head.

Leah was like a bullet. A large, furry bullet. So when she got to Sam and the vampire poised over him, she didn't stop, she just kept going and impacted the vampire full speed. It was like hitting a marble statue going 300 miles an hour. The sound was nearly deafening and they both went up in the air and spun back to the ground, slamming into it with enough force to bounce. She rolled and came up in front of Sam.

Embry had skidded to a stop when Leah took on the vampire. Standing before an alpha who was no longer his own he promised Jake that he wouldn't move. That fucker wasn't getting _near _Sam Uley again. He whimpered when he saw Leah bounce and then closed ranks with her when she popped up next to him, guarding Sam's now unconscious form with him.

He was no longer privyto Sam and Leah's thoughts since joining Jake's pack, but he had to imagine that their conversation had been pretty intense before Sam lost cconsciousness. The vampire was circling them, trying to find a way to get to Sam, it was like he could barely register their presence, he only had eyes for Sam, only focused on Sam. When he made for him, Embry and Leah poised to jump him... but it was not meant to be, both packs descended on him and within a few short moments... the vampire was in shreds and Paul was lighting the fire to toss the pieces into.

Leah and Embry phased back and turned to Sam. He was still out and the back of his head felt a little... soft. He had taken one hell of a knock. With him out, Leah was in charge of his pack.

"Collin, go with Jake or Seth to get Carlisle. Tell him I'm granting him safe passage through La Push so he can treat Sam. I'm not moving him till he gets here. Paul, Jared, run patrol, we don't know if more are headed our way." she barked out the orders in a crisp tone.

Jake began to give orders to his own pack. "Seth, Quil... help Paul and Jared patrol. Embry you... you just keep on doing what you're doing. That all right with you Leah?"

As an alpha he could take over Sam's pack while Sam was out, roll right over Leah's mental defenses and strip away her ability to hold her pack together in Sam's absence. Just like Sam could do to Seth if the situation was reversed. Instead though, he respected Sam's pack and Leah's authority over his territory as his beta. She nodded her consent and Jake took off with Collin to fetch Carlisle. He hoped to G-d it was just a head injury and not another memory stealing catastrophe like Leah had had to live through.

Leah and Embry never once left Sam's side. Both of them were stunned that he had been taken down. Sam was such a tactical fighter, so level headed and cunning in the way that he fought that it had never been a mystery why first Paul and then Leah had been his betas. They were similar and had balanced his leadership style out. It was the same with Jake and Seth. Jake was more like Leah and Paul and Seth was more like Sam. It was as though the tension between the contrasting styles of a packs' alpha and beta held the center and balanced the rest of the pack. If Sam died, the packs would reunite under Jake's leadership... and Leah wasn't sure how she would handle that. Embry wasn't sure either. Sam had never fallen before... there's a first time for everything.

When Carlisle arrived and declared that Sam would live, that it was just a nasty concussion and that he would be fine. Leah nearly sagged in her relief. How could she explain her feelings? For everyone else it had been three and a half years since she and Sam had been intimate, had been in love, had been together. For her it had been seven months... and she couldn't say that she wasn't in love with him anymore. No matter how she had felt before that vampire had bitten her, this was how she felt now.

Embry was nearly as relieved as Leah and that confused the hell out of him. Part of it was in relief for Leah. Things had changed, for better or worse they had changed and he could see that old feelings that had long since been buried were returning. He knew she would tear herself apart if he died. And he didn't want that to happen, he couldn't take that if that happened. But... part of that relief was for himself. He didn't want Sam dead anymore than Leah did. Since when did he have such strong feelings for Sam? He decided that he didn't want to really look that deeply into what was going on between the three of them. Whatever it was, they were friends and it was best not to upset that. Not for an unformed hunch in the back of his mind.

The two of them carried Sam back to his house, refusing all help that was offered. It would be 24 hours before he woke up again. For Embry it was a bit like a repeat of waiting for Leah to wake up, for Leah... it was a whole new thing. She had never really considered that Sam might be vulnerable, that every now and then he may need to lean on someone, lean on her. She wondered when he had taken on such godlike proportions in her mind. She didn't think of Embry that way, though she thought of him with no less affection than she thought of Sam. And that little wisp brought her up short, it made her sit bolt upright in her chair.

When Embry asked her what was wrong, she said nothing and walked downstairs to the front porch. Looking out into the night, she wondered when Embry had become so important to her, when he had become more than a friend. Then she wondered if she had been developing feelings for him before the incident, feelings that she was only now starting to remember. But no, he would have told her, and if he hadn't someone else would have. And there was nothing in her old apartment that alluded to that. It had to be something new.

She had feelings for two men. The thought was on repeat in her brain. Then she chuckled sarcastically. When Leah Clearwater did something, she certainly didn't do it by halves. Sighing and shrugging she walked back inside. Regardless, there was nothing she could do about it now.

XXX XXX XXX XXX

When Sam woke up the following afternoon, he groaned and rubbed the back of his head. Looking around him he wasn't really surprised to find Leah and Embry passed out in chairs next to his bed. He looked further around him. Everything was pretty much where he left it... he got up and went to the bathroom, nothing new there. He felt he could safely say that no major time had passed. With what Leah had gone through... he couldn't be blamed for being a bit concerned.

When he went downstairs he let out another groan upon seeing the gaping hole where his front door was supposed to be. "What is this, the fifth time? Christ... I should build the thing out of legos, that way replacing it would be cheaper and easier than going to Home Depot!"

He was waist deep in his fridge when he heard the thunderous stampede that meant that Leah and Embry had woken up and found him not in his bed. He smiled to himself and grabbed bottle of orange juice. Then he put the coffee on for the two of them as they careened into the kitchen. Coherency didn't really happen for Leah and Embry till they had had their morning coffee.

"Sam! What the hell are you doing out of bed!" Leah sounded like she had discovered him dangling his bloody arm in front of Victoria or something.

"Should you even be walking around right now?" Embry was scrutinizing him like maybe he had morphed a medical degree he hadn't had 24 hours earlier.

Sam handed them both mugs and waited for the coffee maker to beep. "I'm fine, I've got a little bit of headache still, but nothing major. Calm down, I'm not dead and I'm not scheduled to be either. So just drink your coffee, eat some food and try to contain your enthusiasm alright? It's too early for enthusiasm."

Leah wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I was scared... you never fall, you never go down. I guess I just started thinking that it wasn't possible for you to get really hurt like that. I know... it's stupid... but it really shocked me to see you so wounded."

Sam put the OJ down on the counter behind him and held her, giving her a kiss on her forehead. "I'm alright Lee-Lee, I'm still here. A bit sore but still here. It's okay."

For the first time since she lost her memories, Leah didn't get angry with him for calling her Lee-Lee. In fact, it made her smile. Then she focused in on the fact that he was sore and tried to let him go and step away.

"Stop." he said. "I like you here."

Resting his chin on the top of her head for a moment, he just enjoyed her scent mixing with his. It was something he hadn't been able to do since they had broken up. He hadn't really allowed himself to think about how much he had missed it.

Then he let her go and handed her back her coffee mug. Looking over at Embry, the poor guy looked like he was having an attack of awkward. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm just glad you're alright Sam." Embry replied.

Sam laughed, looked at the ceiling and shook his head. Dear G-d these two were so obtuse sometimes it was actually frightening! Reaching out he snagged Embry and gave him a hug. The pack touched each other often, so it wasn't abnormal to see the male packmates be a bit more touchy feely than most heterosexual men normally were with each other. But this touch was just a tiny bit different for a second and both of them knew it. And both of them were more than a little confused about what it meant. So they let each other go and the three of them watched each other eat breakfast.

No one said anything, no one had to. Ever so softly, but with a finality that was nearly deafening... the dynamic had changed.

XXX XXX XXX XXX

Three weeks later Sam had had enough. And he suddenly got up, turned the TV off and went to the door, locked it and pulled the shade down on the kitchen window. The sign to his packmates that unless someone was dead or in the process of dying and wanted to say their final goodbyes, he was to be left alone.

Then he walked back into the living room where Leah was reading a book with her head in Embry's lap while he played with her hair.

"Are we going to talk about this or am I supposed to not be able to realize that you, Embry, haven't left my house since I got hurt to do anything but patrol, go to your pack meetings and check in on your mother? Or that you, Leah, keep waking up in the middle of the night and pacing in front of my bedroom door. Half the time you pause there and I can feel you staring through the freakin' thing!"

Sam continued in a rush. "We all keep dancing around each other and the tension is driving me insane. We need to resolve this one way or the other and no one is leaving till we do!"

Then, he waited. It was not in Sam's nature to wait, but he did. He had thrown down the gauntlet and he needed to see how the other two picked it up.

Embry was the least dominant of the three of them, so it was a bit surprising that he was the one to make the next decisive move. He leaned down, cupped the back of Leah's head and kissed the hell out of her. Leah, arched up a bit into the contact and within a second, was kissing him back. The sight went straight to Sam's cock. Then the other male broke the kiss and looked Sam dead in the eye.

"Your move." he challenged.

Leah barely knew what hit her when Sam nearly held her in midair as he kissed her. She was just getting her bearings from Embry's kiss. It had been new, and so very easy to melt right into. Sam's kiss was different and she had never really forgotten what it was like to become overwhelmed by his intensity. An intensity that had become greater when he had become a wolf.

When he put her down, her breathing was ragged... but so was theirs.

"Upstairs." was all she said. But they followed her right to Sam's room and right into Sam's bed. As she kneeled up up in the center of the bed, Leah stared at Sam and Embry. In a way it was a little like being a feather inbetween to cats who were about to pounce on it. Slowly she unbuttoned the front of her sundress. She never looked down, never looked anywhere but at Sam and Embry. For their part, Sam and Embry were riveted at the sight of removing this one garment. When she was about to shrug it off, Sam came onto the bed behind her and stopped her.

"I'll do it." his voice was deep and rough.

His hands pulled the dress off and he pulled her back against his chest. She hadn't been wearing a bra, he reached around her and cupped her breasts. Pulling and plucking at the nipples. He nipped the flesh at the juncture between her neck and shoulder and watches as her brown nipples hardened in his hands, watched Leah arch her back so hat she could push them against his touch. When he pressed and stretched them more than some women would have liked, Leah let out a high pitched gasp and a surge of arousal had her rock her hips onto the empty air.

Her scent was becoming more and more difficult to ignore. Embry's eyes were half lidded as he took in the sight of her, watched her sigh and moan as Sam touched her. Saw the slight sheen of wetness at the tops of her inner thighs. It had been a long time since Leah had been with anyone, since before the incident... and the way she panted and cried out showed it. When Sam twisted her nipples and Leah cried out "Oh G-d!", Embry kicked off his cutoffs and was on the bed in front of her, drawing his index finger between her wet slit.

Meeting Sam's eyes over her head he jutted with his chin and Sam nodded. Together they pulled Leah back till she was resting more on Sam and reclining. Sam never let up on her breasts and nipping and biting on her neck, Leah's hips were now constantly rocking on air, like she was seeking out something, anything to get the friction she needed.

"Please..." she whispered.

Who could deny that?

Embry bent her legs at the knee and spread them to his liking. Then he leaned down and took one long, slow lick up her center, growling softly at the taste of her. Leah's head fell back against Sam's shoulder in an open mouthed silent cry. Sam's mouth covered hers and she kissed him with an almost desperate intensity, whimpering into him. His hands tightened on her breasts, on her nipples... pulled her back tighter to him.

Embry kept lapping at her, inserting two long fingers into her, pumping her as Leah's hips worked herself back onto him. Smelling her made his length harden even more and he nearly groaned against her.

Leah as arching, straining, kissing, biting... anything, just... please... G-d... almost... there! She fell apart crying out into Sam's mouth, her legs falling fully open for Embry. He slipped his fingers from her and took one last lick before moving up her body, kissing as he went, stopping when he placed a soft kiss between her breasts, then rolling slightly to the side, his hardness brushing her thigh.

Sam's hands were clenching and releasing at her shoulders, his breathing uneven and ragged. He wanted her, fuck he wanted her. Without giving Leah a chance to catch her breath, he flipped her over onto her hands and knees. He had not been inside her for three and a half years. He always thought if he was again, it would be face to face, emotional, intimate... but instead it was intense, rough... and a little bit desperate. Absence does not make one soft, it makes one needy.

He entered her in one stroke, watched her hands grabs at the bedsheets. He and Lee-Lee had always enjoyed rough sex, enjoyed taking it to that limit where you need some pain to fall over the edge. Next time, next time he would be gentle, next time he would take his time. Right now he just wanted her, wanted to be in her, needed her back... with him... around him. Pausing for a moment, he groaned into her hair and then set a hard rhythm, bottoming out in her holding onto her shoulders, nearly pulling her on and off him.

Leah backed herself onto every thrust, meeting him halfway. Her cries and moans filling the air, mingling with Sam and he groaned out her name, that he loved her, that he wanted her. Called her his mate. Her eyes were fixed on Embry as he watched them, licked his lips and began to fist himself and stroke to the pace of Sam slamming into Leah. Leah licked her lips... she wanted Embry in her mouth, but Sam was taking her far too hard for that.

Embry didn't miss that look, didn't miss what it meant and groaned. Then he closed his eyes and softened his strokes on himself. He'd be damned if he came in his own hand. Not now. He'd done that far too often these past few months.

When Sam came he pulled her onto him so hard, came in her so deeply that Leah cried out with equal parts pain and pleasure. Her walls clenched at him and held onto him. He held her up, held her back to his chest, nuzzled her neck. Then he lowered her to the bed, went with her. They gave each other little affectionate touches, loving things that said what words didn't. He was sorry about the past, she had left it behind, he loved her, she loved him too. All of it was said in ghostlike little touches.

When Leah's breath wasn't so frantic anymore, she felt a gentle hand part her thighs. Felt Embry's nose travel up her thigh, over her belly over her neck. Felt him lick the shell of her ear and then as he kissed her like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, he eased himself into her. Slowly, inch by inch he moved till he was seated in her fully.

Embry didn't have Sam's history with her, there was no frantic coming together after a long separation. This was gentle, like he wanted to savor every second of it. And he did. This was the very first time he would be with her, this would never come again and he wanted to draw it out. On each inward stroke he would dip her hips so that his pubic bone pressed down on her clit, he kept his eyes open, looked down at her as she closed her eyes and let out little mewls and sighs.

Sam watched the two and felt himself harden again. His hand traced soft patterns on Leah's face, gave a soft kiss to her forehead and then hung back. He wanted Embry to enjoy his first time with Leah without his interference.

Embry caught Leah's lips with his own as he he rocked faster into her. When her legs warped around his waist and pushed him deeper he growled against her lips. Part of him wanted to rut, thrust into her till all traces of anyone other than him and Sam vanished, the other part just wanted to make it last longer, keep her on the precipice forever, till she begged him to cum, till she arched out... till she... till she...

"Oh... G-d... Leah...!"

He shot thick ropes into her as she held herself up to him with pretty much only the strength of her stomach muscles. Both of them panting and each others names, both of them staring into each others eyes.

Leah spoke first. "I love you."

"I love you too."

All three of them lay there, trying to wrap their heads around the fact that Leah loved both of them and that they loved Leah and that they each... what did they each feel about the other?

Embry leaned up and saw Sam, still hard as he lay back on the sheet on the other side of Leah. He didn't give himself time to second guess, to wonder if he was going completely insane. Instead he just moved around Leah and sat on his heels before Sam. Both men looked at each other intently.

Sam had never once been attracted to another man... but now... with Embry.

Embry had never once been attracted to another man... but now... with Sam.

Then Embry licked up Sam's length. He could taste Leah on him, taste Sam... taste both his mates. It was intensely erotic. As he took Sam into his mouth fully he felt himself harden again as well. As he heard Sam moan and arch up his hips... he hardened even more.

Sam was... he wasn't sure what he was. If some other guy had tried this, there would be a human shaped hole in his wall. But Embry... it was different with Embry, it was okay... it was... fuck, he couldn't think anymore just... groan. Just reach out...

Leah watched the two of them. She had been fucked nearly senseless, loved on by both men till her eyes nearly crossed, but the sight of them now, Embry with his lips wrapped around Sam, Sam with his hand around Embry's cock, stroking him as Embry caused him to lift his hips up again. It was a _major turn on._ And she had never suspected that that sort of thing would be. She could feel the wetness begin to trickle again through her swollen lips. Reaching down, Leah began to rub her own clit, her eyes never leaving the sight before her.

Her scent penetrated the fog that Sam and Embry were in and it made them even more turned on, harder, needing to cum more. Everything was more. Then, as Leah cried out, cumming on her fingertips, Sam roared out, the cords standing out on his neck as he came in Embry's mouth. Embry cried out as he came in Sam's hand, jets of him falling on Leah as well.

Then all three collapsed on the bed. All three of them stared at each other.

Leah was the first to speak. "Wow..."

Embry: 'Yeah..."

Then he made a face, he had never had cum in his mouth and there was a reason it wasn't marketed as a food additive. Leah put her hand over her mouth and giggled. Sam looked guilty.

"Shit... I'm sorry Emb. I should have warned you."

Then he went into the bathroom and came back with a glass of water and handed it to Embry.

Embry smiled thankfully and gulped it down. Then he peered at the other two. "So does this count as working it out?"

Sam laughed so hard he swore he nearly broke something.

"Seriously though, what are we now to each other?" Leah asked. "I don't... call me selfish but I don;t want to be without either one of you now."

Neither do I." said Embry.

Sam was quiet for a moment then he walked to the window and looked out at the moonlit trees. "I think this means we're together now. All of us, all three of us."

Embry nodded. "I like the sound of that."

Leah's answer was the smile and the happiness on her face.

XXX XXX XXX XXX

**3 Years Later**

Sam and Embry watched Leah on the front porch as she read a book, oblivious to the world around her. She had never gotten the memories of those three years back. It had taken quite a while before Sam and Embry could quite forgive themselves for being a little bit happy about that.

Leah told them to let it be. She was happy and content about where she was, not matter how she had to get there.

She was pregnant again, their 18 month old was asleep upstairs, taking one of her ever rarer naps. In four months time there would be another child, their last one. Two children were enough for them.

Whenever anyone would ask which child belonged to which man, Sam and Embry would just look at the person who asked and say the same thing they always said.

"They're ours."


	5. Chapter 5

Legal Disclaimer: 'Twilight' it's subsequent sequels and movies belong to Stephanie Meyer, Little Brown Publishing Company and New Line production company. This is a work of speculative fanfiction and no profit was made nor intended to be made. Nor is this an attempt to claim rights to any of Stephanie Meyer's intellectual property.

**AN: **This is an AH/AU fic. Meaning it's all human, no supernatural elements of any kind though every character will retain the personalities that made them who they were in the original work. So there you go. Oh... and I adore Paul/Leah almost, maybe even as much as, I adore Sam/Leah.

**WARNING: **Yes, there is sex in this. Grownups have sex, they enjoy sex. I do not shy away from this reality, either in one shots, nor will I in the FMF series. If sex disturbs you in any way, may I politely suggest not reading this.

**You Need to Feel Remorse to be Sorry**

**(Paul/Leah)**

Leah was wiping up the bar for the night, making sure all it's art deco accoutrements were gleaming. Rosalie's was an old restaurant and bar in Seattle, it had been built in 1923 and had survived the Great Depression of the 30's, World War 2 in the 40's, the crackdown in morality in the 50's and the fact that in the 60's and 70's it was hideously out of fashion. Come the 80's there was a deco revival that continued right through the 00's and Rosalie's was the Grande Dame of the upper class retro scene in Seattle. Leah Clearwater was one of two bartenders that the owner Jasper, grandson to the original Rosalie Hale, knew by name. The other was Paul Wakeh.

Jasper Hale was a very philanthropic minded individual. His support of the American Indian College Fund was well publicized and he often gave to the schools and clinics of the tribes in Washington state. The entire Hale family was very well off and their grandmother had set the standard of giving back to the communities surrounding them. Many people from La Push reservation were employed in businesses owned by Jasper Hale or his sister Alice and many had benefited from the Hale's various contributions to educational grants that La Push offered to college bound members.

"You know... the meaning to life won't be found in the brass aperture of that tap."

Paul's voice startled her out of her reverie.

"Sorry, just lost in my thoughts." she said.

Paul leaned up against the mahagoney bar, loosening the black tie they both had to wear during their shift.

"Tell me you weren't thinking about Sam again. Please, because I swear Leah... that asshole takes up _way _too much of your time. So does that cousin of yours."

"She came to pick him up, they got affectionate, then they suddenly noticed me here... cleaning the bar, muttered about being sorry and then slinked out." Leah just sounded tired.

**XXX XXX XXX XXX **

Sam Uley was Leah's ex fiance. They had been high school and then college sweethearts. He had proposed their final year in college and she had accepted. They had been planning their wedding when her cousin and best friend Emily Young had come for a visit. Emily was supposed to be her maid of honor in the wedding that never happened. The longer Emily stayed on La Push, the more time she and Sam started spending together. At first Leah had thought nothing of it, she trusted Sam and she trusted Emily, what did she have to worry about? Plenty, as it turned out.

After coming home from a cake tasting that Emily had skipped out on, she walked into her living room and that had been the end of her engagement. Sam and Emily were on the floor in front of the couch. They never noticed that she was there, and they never even noticed her running out of the house in tears. The next day she confronted them and there were shocked looks, tearful apologies from Emily and bullshit excuses from Sam. Finally Leah got the story, Sam and Emily had been fighting a powerful attraction, were in love and just didn't know how to tell her.

Then they apologized. Leah would always remember the looks on their faces when she replied to their fake apologies. "You aren't sorry for what you've done. You're sorry you got caught."

Everything had quickly gone even worse from there. The wedding was called off, Leah moved out of Sam's house and Emily moved in. Leah hadn't expected her to be so bold about it. To move in just days after Leah was gone. Leah had expected gossip, and there was plenty of it. It just hadn't gone the way Leah had thought it would. There was talk that they had been seeing each other behind Leah's back this whole time. But that faded quickly. After that the really painful gossip had begun.

Emily was perfect. She was _always_ nice, she _never _had an unkind word to say to anyone. Leah was not perfect, Leah would get angry and yell sometimes. If she thought you were a waste of space as a human being... you knew about it. Emily got along with her mother in a way that Leah had never really been able to get along with Sue. Emily found massive amounts of personal fulfillment in baking all day and keeping up Sam's home. Emily was content to graduate from high school and look for a man that would take care of her and that she in turn could take care of. Leah had wanted to go to college, had pursued the Hale La Push Educational Foundation Grant and other scholarships with a very single minded focus. She had earned her degree in marine biology and had worked at Rosalie's the whole time to earn money.

She and Emily were the friendship version of opposites attract. And it was there that the new round of gossip began. Emily was better for Sam than Leah, more womanly, less career minded. Emily was gentler, would allow Sam to be more of a man than Leah had. Emily was nicer, sweeter... better. Sometimes Leah could have sworn to G-d that she had gone to sleep and woke up and the 1950's took back over the world while she wasn't paying attention.

It hurt.

It hurt more when Sue, who had always had a especially good relationship with her niece seemed to think the same things. When Sam and Emily announced their engagement and Emily asked Leah to be her maid of honor, Leah's response had been short and to the point.

"No."

She hadn't been expecting that her own mother would feel the need to try and change her mind. Leah felt the wind taken completely from her sails at that. Mother and daughter ended up in one of the worst fights that they had ever been in. It ended with Leah packing her belongings and getting a second job back at Rosalie's to be able to afford a Seattle apartment on her own. Her job at the Oceanographic Institute of Seattle didn't pay enough for that.

She didn't attend the engagement party nor the wedding. There was a certain cold comfort that her brother Seth didn't either. There was even more cold comfort in the fact that Emily's sister Anne didn't attend the engagement fete and refused to be in the wedding party. Anne had attended the ceremony, but not the reception. So at least three people seemed to understand the immorality of what had happened.

Now Leah's days were spent researching ways to better understand the songs of the huge group of whales called rorquals and her nights working at Rosalie's. When Sam had taken a second job at Rosalie's as the maitre de to afford to put on an addition onto his house for a playroom now that Emily was pregnant, it had made each shift at the nightspot painful. However Leah wasn't going to quit, she had had to give so many things up to Sam and Emily... this job, which she liked, wasn't going to go on the list.

**XXX XXX XXX XXX **

"You know, there's this tricky thing to being sorry. You have to really feel remorse, otherwise you aren't actually sorry." Paul said.

"What do you mean?" Leah asked.

"Well, if Sam or Emily regretted what they had done and if they had the chance to do it over again and would chose differently... then their apologies would be real, because they would honestly feel sorry for what they had done." He paused here as if he wanted to spare her feelings, but Paul had always been a direct man, so he pressed forward.

"You've seen them Leah, they would do it all over again if it meant they could end up together. So, their apologies aren't real, they feel no remorse for their actions and frankly the fact that they continue to go out of their way to give you those apologies is insulting and dishonest. They aren't sorry."

Leah stared at him, then she dropped her eyes to her left hand, to the finger where Sam's mother's ring once sat, the very same ring that Emily now wore.

"You're right you know. They apologize to me because it's expected of them, because it allows them to save face... it keeps them looking morally clean and if I don't lap it up like a good little doggy... then I get to look like the bitter bad guy." Her voice was small and quiet.

"I'm through letting them hurt me like this. Karma's a bitch and someday they'll get theirs. But I'm through letting them dictate my level of personal happiness, they aren't worth it. I'm not ready to forgive them, I'm not sure if I ever really will be... but I'm ready to move forward... or to at least try."

Paul smirked. "Damn... apparently my speeches are paradigm shifting!"

Leah tossed the polishing rag at his face. "Aw Paulie... you know a big word like paradigm?"

He flipped her off as Jasper and Alice Hale came in along with Jasper's wife Esme. Esme Hale nee' Cullen was the younger sister of the surgeon Carlisle Cullen. Both the Cullen and Hale families were considered first families of the wealthy elite of the Pacific Northwestern United States. The marriage of Jasper and Esme would have been considered nearly the ultimate corporate family merger... if the two of them weren't so obviously in love with each other.

Esme was 10 years Jasper's senior and was very active in inner city education. She sat on the curriculum board for the state of Washington and had a PhD in at risk education. She and Jasper were a match made in philanthropic heaven. They each brought out the best in each other and were actually a great deal of fun to be around.

Alice Hale came over to the bar.. "Paul, Leah... are you two available next Saturday?"

"We both have shifts." Paul replied.

"I can get someone else to cover them for you." Jasper said. "Besides, Paul... you know I'm waiting for you to say yes to take over for Eric in the manager position. You're a great head bartender... but you'd be a better manager."

Sunday morning at 2am was the same every Sunday. The Hales all came in for a drink and talked for about an hour about various things. Then they'd wait till all of Rosalie's employees left and they'd lock the place up. The routine was as familiar as the rain.

Alice bounced up and down as she described her latest event to Paul and Leah.

"Kim got her sculptures into the Haines Gallery! I told her we would cater the opening!"

Kim Conweller was a quiet woman who Paul and Leah had known nearly all their lives. She was Quiluete and had been in the same grade as Sam, Leah, Paul, Jared, Rachel and Rebecca. She was also Alice's fiance. The two were getting married in a commitment ceremony in two months.

Leah smiled. "We'll be there."

Later as they walked to their cars Leah looked over at Paul.

"Why didn't you tell me you had gotten an offer for Eric Yorkie's job?" she asked.

"I'm going to say yes, Jasper knows it too, I'm just... enjoying my last week as the carefree head bartender."

Then he slanted a sly look back at her.

"And hoping to persuade you to take my old job."

Leah looked shocked. "Really?"

"Yeah." he replied. "Jasper and Alice both want you to take it. You have a feel for the retro drinks we serve and you understand what people want they come to Rosalie's. Plus, it wouldn't interfere with your researcher position at OTS. You only work there three days a week and one of them we're closed during. So... take it."

Leah nearly grinned and her hair swung in the breeze as she nodded 'yes'. Then she impulsively hugged Paul before going to her car.

He watched her and then yelled out before she got in. "Hey... go with me tomorrow night for supper at my brother's and Anne's."

Leah didn't say much. Paul's older brother Caleb was married to Emily's older sister Anne. The whole group was so intertwined... it was one of the reasons she lived in Seattle, for some privacy. Since Paul lived in Seattle too, she assumed he felt the same way. Then she took a deep breath. _Stop giving Sam and Emily the power to make you miserable._

"Sure, I'll meet you at your place. What time?"

Paul gave her the softest smile she had ever seen him give. "Meet me at 5, I'll drive us to their place."

That night when Leah got home she sat on her sofa, and she made an inventory, all the things she had been letting her shock and grief over the betrayal that Sam and Emily had handed her keep her away from. It was time to go back into the world. Like a Jew sitting kaddish, she had moved through her grief and the time to reenter the world had come.

**XXX XXX XXX XXX**

On Sunday Paul, Leah, Caleb and Anne were sitting and laughing over grilled steaks. The talk had been gregarious and fun. Their mutual friend Jared had called, he had popped the question to his longtime girlfriend Rachel and she had said yes. It seemed like everyone was pairing off, one by one.

Caleb raised his glass. "To Jared and Rachel in abstention, may their lives together be long, happy... and not completely boring."

Anne joined in. "May Rachel never tire of cleaning up after Jared's messy ass and may Jared come to love all the plants his botanist wife will fill his house with."

Paul came next. "May they fuck a lot... and may the sex always be good."

Everyone nearly snorted wine at that one.

Leah came last... and her's was the most simple. "May it work out."

Anne frowned and then she reached across the table and took Leah's hand in her own.

"You know, history has a way of repeating itself. Sam cheated on you with my sister, he proved that he has an unfaithful streak. Emily may blind herself to the realities, but a man that cheats on one partner... will cheat on the next. I love my sister, but she was always a bit selfish and if he cheats on her... I won't be able to say that she doesn't deserve it.

Leah looked at Anne stunned. "But... she's your little sister, how can you say that about her?"

Anne shrugged and looked into her wine glass before meeting Leah's eyes. "I'm the oldest, I remember when Emily was born, I know her better than anybody... maybe even our parents. Emily is kind and generous and sweet... unless her interests get into conflict with someone else's, then she's extremely and unfathomably selfish. One can be nice and still be selfish you know. And if Sam want to blind _himself_ to the realities just like Emily, well... a woman who will put her desires and wants above what's right and wrong, above the person who's closest to her happiness once, she'll do it again. And if it happens, I won't be able to say that Sam doesn't deserve it."

Anne continued. "Of my two sisters I was always close with Linda, I was never close with Emily. I love my little sister dearly and I see the kind of woman she could become if she could just excise that core of selfishness... but I don't like her. I love and like Linda. That's why Linda is named Claire's guardian if something happens to me and Caleb... and Emily isn't."

The Wakeh brothers were silent as they listened to the women talk. Then Caleb said his piece.

"You know, most people thought it was pretty damn bold of her to ask you to be a maid of honor in their wedding. And for what it's worth, I'll never know why your mother pressured you to agree. I... let's just say that I disagree with many of Sue's parenting strategies and leave it at that."

Paul just watched Leah closely. It was like seeing a crocus come up out of the ground through the winter's snow. Privately he thought that she would have been over Sam long ago if it hadn't been for the way in which the relationship had ended and with whom Sam had ended it with. Somethings leave emotional scars that you need help to get over. Hearing people support her side of things made Leah lighten, made her smile a bit more genuine. It made her happy and that made Paul happy.

Later that night Paul walked Leah to her car at his apartment building.

"Go with me next month? I eat dinner there once a month... go with me again."

Leah smiled and nodded yes, then Paul decided to take his chance and leaned in and kissed her. As he pulled back he nipped her bottom lip. Leah's eyes were a bit unfocused and she seemed unsure as to what surprised her more, that he had kissed her or that he had bitten her.

He backed off and gave her a half smirk as he went to go back to his apartment. "Hey... did you think I was going to be a gentleman the whole time?"

Leah got into her car. _'No... and thank G-d for that!'_

**XXX XXX XXX XXX**

The next two weeks were full of flirtations and innuendo and dates. They were also filled with hard looks from Sam. It had turned out that Emily's pregnancy test had been a false positive, they were rare but happened. For some reason though, Sam keep his job as maitre de at Rosalie's even though he would no longer need the money for an addition. The gossip was that Emily liked the extra money coming in. Leah found herself not really caring... she was happy, and she had meant it when she said that she was done letting them have power over her.

The other thing was Paul, or maybe it was the fact that the more time she spent with him, the more she realized that she was feeling sexual again. After what had happened, Leah's sex drive had pretty much vanished. She felt like something was wrong with her and she had compared every inch of herself to Emily, at one point losing far too much weight. Eventually she realized that she was punishing herself for something that wasn't her fault and started eating healthy meals again, but her sense of her own sexuality had been sorely lacking. Actually, it wasn't lacking, it was completely non-existent.

Until Paul had kissed her. Then things changed. Tonight, as they closed shop at Rosalie's Paul had come up to her and under the guise of helping her learn the ropes of his old job had slid his hand up her skirt behind the bar and gripped her inner thigh before running his knuckles tantalizingly close to her center. Then the bastard had left and Leah had been wide eyed with her lips parted staring after him. Sam had noticed, he knew what that look meant... _he _used to be the one who caused it on her.

Maybe it was a sign of how far Leah had come now that she was ready to move forward with her life, but she didn't even notice Sam staring at her. And when Emily picked him up, it was like the two of them didn't exist to her. It wasn't intentional, it was true preoccupation. Leah had far too many important things to think about than to waster her time on thoughts about Sam and her cousin.

Paul noticed that pivotal moment and he grinned wolfishly. He didn't want to be the rebound guy, it had been two years since Sam and Leah had broken up, so that would seem to preclude him taking up that position, but seeing how the couple hadn't made a blip on her radar reassured him. Paul was his own man to Leah, whatever they had and wherever it was going would have nothing to do with the Uley's and it would have been impossible to overstate the importance of that to him. He thought that Sam and Emily were far too used to things revolving around them, it would be good for them to witness something that had nothing to do with them nor was about them. It would be character building for the couple.

When Rosalie's was finally completely closed and Paul was kissing Leah goodbye at her car, Leah pressed up against him and whined a bit at the back of her throat.

"You are _not _getting me all hot and bothered like this and just leaving me to it are you?"

Paul nipped her again, he was a biter and Leah had found that it was an intense turn on for her.

"You know babe... the thought of you taking care of things is pretty hot. Now what would be hotter would be watching you get yourself off to thoughts of me."

Then he kissed her so hard that when he broke the contact her lips were a bit swollen and her eyes were wide again. Some womens eyes went heavy and hooded when they were aroused, Leah's went wide... almost like the effect shocked her. It made her look like the sexual innocent that Paul knew she wasn't.

"Unfortunately" he continued. "I have to drive back to La Push, my mother needs a water heater installed tomorrow."

Leah wrinkled her nose in disappointment and then leaned close, licked the shell of his ear delicately and whispered. "Well... trust me, I'll be in bed moaning your name... even if you're not there to hear it."

Paul watched her get in her car and drive off. "Goddamn woman... just... goddamn..."

A little less than 20 minutes later Leah was in her bed, naked, legs spread as she plucked at her own nipples and arched up into her own hand. When she came, she came crying out Paul's name and it felt _good._

Afterward she laid in bed all loose limbed and languid. She and Paul had yet to actually have sex, though all the foreplay they had indulged in leading up to it had been hotter than hell and Leah was ready to move on to other things. She was ready, her body was ready... no part of her belonged to Sam Uley anymore, she belonged to herself and she was ready to let Paul into the parts of her that she had been keeping such a strong watch over for two years.

**XXX XXX XXX XXX**

It was one more week till Paul decided that it was time. He liked making Leah anticipate it, but yet not go there. It made it so that when it happened, it would be even more intense than if they had had sex right away. Maybe some couples would think that one month was too short a time to hold off on having sex, but for them... it was all the time they needed to make sure this was what they wanted.

Paul was no longer the teenager who fucked everything that was female and had a pulse. He still had a healthy sex drive and he had indulged, but he had grown more careful, more discerning. Less willing to just follow his cock to whatever it pointed itself at. Leah was less guarded, more willing to take chances. Sam had only been the second man she had slept with, Jared having been the first in an encounter that they both remembered fondly but ultimately, had led nowhere. Now she was willing to own her sexuality and her wants and desires in ways that previously, she had been unable to.

In short, they were both ready for the other.

There were no overly romantic plans or devices used on the night. Leah wasn't dressed to the nines in lingerie or heels. Paul wasn't the overwhelming masculine man on the hunt. They were dressed in sweats and socks having a movie marathon while it poured rain like only Washington state could pour rain from the heavens. It had been a lazy day and Paul hadn't shaved and Leah's hair hadn't been done and was just up in a messy ponytail.

When 'Bone Collector' finished and the credits rolled, Paul just pulled her to sit astride his lap, slipped his hands up into her sweatshirt and cupped her braless breasts as he kissed her softly. There was no frantic yanking off of clothing, just slowly peeling things off each other as lips wanted to get to covered skin. Paul didn't carry Leah to the bed, nor was there a frantic rush of fast walking and kissing. Leah just stood up before him, nude in the dim light, took in his equally nude form and took his hand and led

him into her bedroom. They entered the bed simultaneously and joined together almost immediately thereafter.

The pace was slow, intimate, like they were getting to know each other with a new language. Paul was poised over her, looking down at her as she came around him, watching the way her neck arched and and her eyes finally went from wide to fluttering closed. She didn't say his name, she just cried out her pleasure like she was owning it. It was sexy as hell and when he came it was with his mouth pressed to her neck and groaning just as inarticulately.

They fell asleep together and woke up that way. And it felt good.

**AN: **So, I had more to this, but after COUNTLESS revisions, I edited it out. This will have a sequel that will be more intense, but the mood of this seemed to require a more subtle approach. However, don't wait for it. I'm focusing my writing attentions pretty much completely on Shrapnel till it's done. So while I have a Quil/Angela piece and the sequel to this planned, they will NOT be posted till Shrapnel is complete.

My edit of the next chapter for Shrapnel is halfway finished, I intend to post it this week even if it kills me. Someone PLEASE tell my children that mama needs to edit her fanfic! Oh well.


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